Transparent heel and sole assembly

ABSTRACT

A transparent heel and sole assembly comprises a sole, a heel and a connecting sheet. The sole is formed in a surface thereof with a locating hole. The heel is made of transparent material and formed on the top surface thereof with a protruding closed wall that defines a locating groove. The protruding closed wall is to be engaged in the locating hole of the sole. The connecting sheet is made of transparent material and formed in a surface thereof with an engaging column that is to be inserted in the locating hole of the sole and then to be engaged with the protruding closed wall of the locating groove of the heel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application is a continuation of part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/705,695 filed on Nov. 10, 2003, which claims the benefit of this earlier filing date.

2. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a transparent heel assembly, and more particularly to an assembling structure for a transparent heel.

2. Description of the Prior Arts

Based on the prior arts, normally there are two methods of fixing a transparent heel to a sole. One method is spreading adhesive directly on the top surface of the heel or on the lower surface of the sole, and then adhere the heel to the sole. Another method as shown in FIG. 1, wherein a sole 10 is defined with a locating hole 12, a top surface of a heel 20 is define provided with an aperture 17, and then the heel 20 is locked with the sole 10 by virtue of screws 40 and washers 41.

Since most of the user's weight is loaded on the conjunction between the heel and the sole, the heel attached to the sole through adhesive is susceptible to separating after a certain period of use due to the adhesive is not strong enough. As a result, not only the service life of the shoe is shortened but also the user's ankle will be sprained.

Regarding the method of screwing the heel to the sole, the heads of the screws will either protrude out or sink into the top surface of the sole after the screws are screwed in the heel, so that the top surface of the sole is uneven. The user will feel uncomfortable after a certain distance of walking. Furthermore, if the heel is transparent, the screws in the heel can be clearly seen such that the aesthetic beauty of heel will be adversely affected.

The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional heel and sole assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a transparent heel and sole assembly, wherein the sole is provided with a locating hole, and a heel is made of transparent marital and is formed with a protruding closed wall defining a locating groove. The heel is attached to a lower surface of the sole and the protruding closed wall is engaged in the locating hole of the sole. A connecting sheet made of transparent marital and has a connecting surface on which being formed a protruding engaging column, the engaging column of the connecting sheet is engaged in the locating groove of the heel. In this manner, the heel and the sole can be detachably assembled together in a screwless fashion, so as to save the assembly time. Furthermore, the connecting sheet and the heel are made of the same transparent material, therefore, the connecting sheet will be invisible after being assembled with the heel.

The secondary object of the present invention is to provide a heel and sole assembly, wherein the sole is defined with a shallow recess for allowing the connecting sheet to flatly abut against the sole, so as to obviate the disadvantage of the uneven top surface of the sole and the exposure of the screws caused in the conventional screwing type transparent heel and sole assembly.

The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, which shows, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiments in accordance with the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional assembly view of a conventional heel and sole assembly;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a heel and sole assembly in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a heel and sole assembly in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional assembly view of a heel and sole assembly in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a heel and sole assembly in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional assembly view of a heel and sole assembly in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring first to FIG. 2, wherein a heel and sole assembly in accordance with the present invention is shown and generally comprises a sole 10, a heel 20 and a connecting sheet 30.

The sole 10 is made of transparent material and has an upper surface 11 facing the user's foot, in the rear end of the upper surface 11 is formed a shallow recess 12, and in the center of the recess 12 is defined a locating hole 13. The sole 10 further has a lower surface 14 and a front upper 15, the front upper 15 corresponds to the back of user's foot. An anti-skid sheet 16 is arranged on the lower surface 14 of the sole 10.

In a top surface 21 of the heel 20 is defined a locating groove 22, so that the heel 20 is attached to the lower surface 14 of the sole 10 in such a manner that the locating groove 22 is aligned to the locating hole 13 of the sole 10.

The connecting sheet 30 is also made of the same transparent material as the sole 10 and is formed on the bottom thereof with a connecting surface 31 on which being formed a protruding engaging column 32. The engaging column 32 passes through the locating hole 13 of the sole 10 and then inserts in the locating groove 22 of the heel 20 in such a manner that the connecting surface 31 of the connecting sheet 30 abuts closely against the bottom of the shallow recess 12 in the sole 10. Therefore, the connecting sheet 30 will be flush with the top surface of the sole 10.

The heel 20 is attached to the lower surface 14 of the sole 10, and the locating groove 22 is aligned to the locating hole 13 of the sole 10, and then the engaging column 32 of the connecting sheet 30 is engaged in the locating groove 22 of the heel 20 after passing through the locating hole 13. In this manner, the heel 20 and the sole 10 can be assembled together easily and firmly in a screwless fashion. Furthermore, the connecting sheet 30 and the heel 20 are made of the same transparent material, therefore, the connecting sheet 30 will be invisible after being assembled with the heel 20.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the connecting surface 31 of the connecting sheet 30 abuts against the bottom of the recess 12 of the sole 10, and then the engaging column 32 of the connecting sheet 30 is inserted in the locating groove of the heel 20. In this way, the disadvantage of the conventional heel and sole assembly, namely the uneven upper surface 14 of the sole 10 caused by screws 40 will be obviated, and the aesthetic beauty of the transparent heel 20 is accordingly enhanced.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, which show a transparent heel and sole assembly in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. On the top surface 21 of the heel 20 is formed an upward protruding closed wall 23 that defines a locating groove 22. The protruding closed wall 23 of the heel 20 is inserted in the locating hole 13 of the sole 10, and then the engaging column 32 of the connecting sheet 30 is inserted in the locating hole 13 of the sole 10. In this way, the protruding closed wall 23 of the heel 20 and the engaging column 32 of the connecting sheet 30 are tightly engaged with each other in the locating hole 13 of the sole 10, thus enabling the heel 20 and the sole 10 to be assembled together quickly and firmly without the aid of screws and similar fasteners.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, which show a transparent heel and sole assembly in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention. In the engaging column 32 of the connecting sheet 30 are additionally defined two tenon holes 33, on the bottom of the locating groove 22 defined by the protruding closed wall 23 are correspondingly arranged two tenons 24. The two tenons 24 of the heel 20 are inserted in the corresponding tenon holes 33 of the sole, in this way, the contacting -area between the connecting sheet 30 and the heel 20 is increased, therefore, the heel 20 and the sole 10 can be quickly and firmly without the aid of screws and similar fasteners. The assembly of this embodiment is same as that of the second embodiment, further remarks on this matter will be omitted here.

It will be noted that the principle characteristic of the present invention as compared to the prior art is that the heel and the sole are detachably assembled together without the aid of screws or similar fasteners. Furthermore, the connecting member (namely the connecting sheet) is made of the same transparent material as the heel, therefore, the connecting sheet will be invisible after being assembled with the heel, and this can enhance the aesthetic beauty of the heel.

While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. 

1. A transparent heel and sole assembly, comprising: a sole being formed in a surface thereof with a locating hole; a heel being made of transparent martial, on a top surface of the heel is formed with a protruding closed wall that defines a locating groove, the protruding closed wall is to be engaged in the locating hole of the sole; a connecting sheet being made of the same transparent martial as the heel and formed in a surface thereof with an engaging column, the engaging column is to be inserted in the locating hole of the sole and then to be engaged with the protruding closed wall of the locating groove of the heel; the engaging column of the connecting sheet is defined with tenon holes, on a bottom of the locating groove of the heel are correspondingly provided with tenons that are to be engaged in the tenon holes; a shallow recess is formed in a rear end of the top surface of the sole, such that a bottom surface of the connecting sheet will abut against the bottom of the recess of the sole, and a top surface of the connecting sheet will be flush with the top surface of the sole, the top surface of the heel abuts against a lower surface of the sole. 